Oil burner



April 1934- A. o. HIGINBOTHAM 1,953,483

OIL BURNER Filed June 30, 1930 A TTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 3, 1934 UNITED s'mxrss PATENT OFFICE.

on. BURNER Arum- 0. Hlginbotham,' lienver, 0010. pplication June 30, 1930, Serlal No. 484,801 2 Claims. (01.158-76) My invention relates to oil burners. The principal object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that will completely and thoroughly mix the oil and air, in order that thorough com- I bustion may be obtained.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for expelling air in a whirling, turbulent motion and to hold the oil mist or spray within a defined area, which permits complete combustion of same.

Heretofore, oil burners have projected mixtures of oil and air in a long, diverging stream. An important object of the present invention is to increase the diameter, and to decrease the length.

of the flame; in fact, it is desirable that the flame be as large as the head of the burner.

A further object of the invention is to provide an air cushion immediately adjacent to the burner head, in order that particles 01' carbon may be kept therefrom, to maintain the head'in a clean condition. r

- Still further .pbjects of the inventionare to preheat air before'it comes in contact with the oil mist, and to provide cross currents during the mixing of the oil and air, in order to obtain the necessary turbulence.

Other objects reside in novel details, such as providing an air-cooled jacket for the burner head, and in novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will appear in the course of the following description.

In the drawing, like reference characters designate similar parts in'the several views.

Figure 1 is an elevation of an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1. 4 4

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a reduced section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2..

Referring more in detail to the invention, a 4 -burner is designated generally by the reference numeral 5. The burner is connected with a fan or blower 6 by means of an air conduit '7. An oil supply pipe 8 connects with "a source of supply (not shown). The supply pipe has a restricted opening at the tip 9 for discharging oil in a mist or spray.

The burner head includes a face plate 10 containing a plurality of orifices 12 therethrough. The face has a flat ring 13 and a counter-sunk portion 14, the latter containing the orifices 12.

The flat portion 13 also contains openings 15. Between an annular end plate 42 and the face plate 10 are placed vanes '17. These vanes are .the burner head and particularly the vanes 17 thereof. The head is frictionally held in position by the contact of the vanes on said foot. It will be apparent that the size of the openings 32 may be varied by movement of the burner head longitudinally relative to the jacket 19.

A spider 22, for holding the oil supply pipe 8, and its attached nozzle 23 are fastened to the annular end plate 42 by means of bolts 24. A set screw 142 on the'spider holds the pipe 8 in desired positions relative to the face plate 10. The nozzle 23 and its associated supply pipe 8 may be moved to different positions by releasing the set screw 142. Spacing blocks 25" are provided therebetween.

The head also cludes a housing tube 25 of nonconductive material for an electrode 26 of a spark plug 27. The tube 25 has openings 28 and 29 at opposite ends for the passage therethrough of air, to keep the electrode tips clean. The electrode 26 and electrode 30 have a gap 31 to provide an electric spark. This gap is placed outside the path of the oil projecting from the nozzle 23, so that after initial ignition takes place, continued combustion will not cover the electrode tips with carbon. The circuit for the spark plug is not shown, since it is'thought to be well-known. The spark is carried outward in the form of a loop toward the oil mist, by means of the air passing through the tube 25, since the electrodes are placed side by side with the gap 31 in the path of the air blast through the tube 25. A distinct ad- 100 vantage of this arrangement is that the spark is carried into the oil mist but the mist is not burned around the electrodes, which prevents fouling of the electrodes.

The nozzle 23 on the oil supply pipe has 84105 hexagonal collar 33. A sleeve 34 depends from the face plate 10 of the burner head. Slidably mounted in the sleeve 34 is a bushing 35 that carries a deflector 36. The sleeve and bushing have alined apertures, as shown at 16. The deflector 110 affords an annular passage 37 which provides a converging air stream across face of the tip 9 of the oil nozzle, to keep same clean. Passages 38 are also provided by the deflector to project air across the counter-sunk portion 14 of the face plate, for the purpose of keeping carbon therefrom.

It will be seen throughout the description of the invention 'that"precautions have been taken to provide long life, by keeping the parts as clean as possible from carbon.

An important feature of the invention is the fact that the entire burner head may be taken out as a unit when a plate 44 is removed from the air conduit. This feature is especially attractive when it is desirable to clean or repair parts of the burner. Taking out the burner head from the housing 7 does not disturb any of the adjustments of the burner head.

In the operation of the invention, the blower 6 is operated by any suitable means and propels air through the tube 7 and to and through the burner head. Air not onlyiills the recess 20 of the air jacket, but is also propelled through the longitudinally curved passages 18 between, the vanes, through the orifices 12 and openings 15, and through the non-conducting tube 25.

The small jets'of air passing through the orifices l2, provide a cushion of air adjacent to the face plate 10, while the passages 38 propel air across said face plate. The passage 37 projects air across the tip 9 at opposite points.

As stated above, the quantity of air traveling through the passages 32 may be regulated by longitudinal movement of the burner head relative to the air jacket.

Air that is discharged through the openings 32 is directed forward on face 40 of the air jacket. The passages 18 give the air a whirling motion, while the face 40 projects the air currents forward in an annular stream. Thus the air that is discharged from the burner head is in a whirling, annular stream. Passages 43 through the face 40 provide outlets for the air in the recesses 20. These passages 43 are arranged in a non-radial manner around the face 40.

In nature it is well-known that when air is propelled in such a manner, as in a whirlwind, there are counter currents or eddies in the center traveling in the opposite direction. This is the result obtained in the present invention by actual tests.

Thus the oil mist discharged at the tip 9 of the oil nozzle is impinged upon by the air cushion at the face of the burner and the counter currents or eddies effected by the annular stream of air. The oil mist caught therebetween is held in adjacency to the burner head, but is also subjected to a great variety of currents and cross currents, which cause complete and thorough mixture of the air and oil. The oil mist is mixed with air at the inner surface of the annular stream of air. Moreover, the cross currents at the outer edge of the burner head and across the face plate materially assist in mixing the air and oil.

The counter currents or eddies caused by the annular stream of whirling air are an important feature of the invention, for they effect the aforesaid thorough combustion and also keep the flame close to the burner head, with the result that a large, clean flame is produced. It has been found in actual practice that little or no carbon collects on the nozzle, on the face of the burner head, or

on the electrode tips, which, as stated before,

causes long life and eiiicient service.

The arrows in Figure 2 only representthe directions of the air currents. To avoid confusion, the direction of travel of the oil mist has not been noted. It is to be understood that any suitable nozzle 23 may be used for discharging a mist or spray of oil.

Due to the combustion of the oil taking place in the vicinity of the burner face 10, this face and the thereto connected vanes 1'7 are heated to a considerable extent. Thus the air traveling through and around the face plate and between the vanes, is preheated before it comes into contact with the oil mist, which is an important feature of the invention.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction, arrangement and combination of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention. I should, therefore, be accorded full protection against the use of all equivalents.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an oil burner, a source of air pressure, a head having a curved passage for the discharge of air in a whirling motion, a nozzle for the dis charge of an oil spray to be mixed with the air, and a deflector to direct air across the face of the nozzle, the head having an orifice for the passage therethrough of air to provide an air cushion for the head, the whirling air providing a counter current which together with the air cushion impinges upon the oil spray.

2. In an oil burner, an apertured burner head, a nozzle for supplying an oil spray, and a deflector disposed to direct air across the faces of the head and nozzle, and a source of air pressure connected to direct air toward the deflector and through an aperture in the head to provide an air cushion thereon.

ARTHUR O. I-IIGINBOTHAM. 

